Copyright infringement no worry for students

TORONTO (CUP) — A recent court decision in the case involving corporations TekSavvy and Voltage Pictures is working towards shutting down copyright trolling in Canada and protecting alleged infringers from exploitation.

In a decision released Feb. 20, a judge ordered TekSavvy, a popular Internet service provider among students, to disclose 2,000 IP addresses and corresponding customer names to Voltage Pictures — the company responsible for films such as The Hurt Locker and Dallas Buyers Club. Voltage filed a lawsuit in late 2012 alleging copyright infringement by TekSavvy customers.

By law, the maximum amount Voltage Pictures could gain from any one individual for copyright infringement is $5,000.

“Five-thousand dollars for a first offence without any strikes or warning is overkill,” said Martin Wennde, a first-year computer science student at Ryerson University and TekSavvy customer. “Yes, it is illegal but it’s like jaywalking — a crime that nobody enforces.”

While this decision might appear to be a blow to TekSavvy, experts are saying it’s a big step in discouraging an extortion scheme, known as copyright trolling, in Canada.

Trolling occurs when a copyright holder uses the legal process to extract excessive amounts of money from alleged infringers, said David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, who intervened in the case. He also said that copyright trolling is common in the United States.

After a ruling is made, a copyright holder is permitted to send letters out to the offenders.

“They’re really leveraging fear and anxiety in the cost of defending yourself in a court to build a business model on the basis of low-scale intellectual copyright infringement,” he said.

Fewer said the outcome of this highly publicized case was actually a positive one.

“I think this decision is a death blow to copyright trolls in Canada,” he said. “I think Voltage is extremely unhappy with this decision.”

Even though Voltage Pictures has been successful in getting the desired ruling in this case, students using TekSavvy have little to worry about according to Avner Levin, director of the Privacy and Cyber Crime Institute at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management.

“There are a number of steps there that make it more expensive and costly for Voltage to go after people,” Levin said. “The more expensive it is to litigate and to pursue it, the less it’s worth it for them.”

Before TekSavvy hands customer information over to Voltage Pictures, the company must also reimburse any fees TekSavvy has accrued as a result of the lawsuit, said Tina Furlan, TekSavvy’s director of marketing and press communication. The reimbursement includes legal fees, which can amount to hundreds of dollars an hour, Levin said. In the event that Voltage does decide to continue pursuing alleged infringers, Fewer said the courts will oversee every step of the process.

“All Voltage has is evidence that a particular subscriber’s IP address may have been involved in a download,” he said.

Levin said that because any letters Voltage Pictures sends to offenders confer no legal obligations, there’s no need to be intimidated, adding that sending a quick response denying the allegations is the best way to respond.

Yaneric Bisaillon, vice-president of university affairs of the International, Political and Policy Studies Student Association (IPPSSA)

Campus Briefs

By Tanner Bayne

Spotlight on tuition increases at the U of S

On April 4, the University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors announced the tuition rates for the 2018-19 academic year. On average, students at the U of S will be paying 4.8 per cent more than they did in the 2017-18 academic year.

At the U of S, tuition is set based on three considerations: comparisons to the tuition levels of other U15 universities, the perceived quality of education, and affordability and accessibility. With the tuition announcement, the Board of Governors released an information document outlining the tuition increases by college. The tuition hikes for direct-entry colleges are as follows:

Agriculture and Bioresources

4.8 per cent increase, from $6,119 to $6,413.

Arts and Science

4.7 per cent increase, from $6,751 to $7,065.

Edwards School of Business

3.3 per cent increase, from $7,406 to $7,647.

Engineering

4.0 per cent increase, from $8,172 to $8,500.

Kinesiology

4.4 per cent increase, from $6,100 to $6,371.

In a media release following the Board of Governors’ tuition announcement, 2017-18 USSU vice-president operations and finance Deena Kapacila stated that the USSU is pleased with the tuition dialogue between the U of S administration and the USSU. However, Kapacila doesn’t believe that the hikes reflect the economic realities of students, and in her statement, she called on the provincial government for increased financial assistance.

“With the understanding that the cost associated with post-secondary education is a shared responsibility, we are asking the province of Saskatchewan to adequately fund our post-secondary institutions and work with the U of S to combat the declining student experience referenced in the Maclean’s U15 rankings,” Kapacila said. “Even if a student is lucky enough to find a well-paying job, working all summer barely covers the cost of one term.”